Recessions is the best happy hour in town. Not too crowded during the week and the people that are there are there to have a good time. None of that going out to be seen or to tell my friends where I went business. No, this place is about going to work on your liver and possibly embarrassing yourself (for those of you who still have or believe in shame). The bartenders are great as long as you are not there to be wowed by decor and you are not some high maintenance drama queen or self-important tool. The main reason I like Recessions so much is that it self-selects its clientele. Just look at the people who didn't like it. No, really look. These are people I would never want to drink with. Ever. Recessions is about everything that is right with America. Wait, I just looked to the side column and some guy tried to say Recessions is trying too hard to be East Village? This guy is a perfect example of someone I never want to drink with. See? Recessions has again worked its magic. read more

Why can't I give zero stars? This is not a dive bar. This is an old wedding reception venue with SEVERE water damage and an odor that reminds one of a slow gas leak. Thus your impression of a descent into hell is authenticated with the stench of sulfur. The staff has all the charm of a police lineup and appeared to be coming down from a meth binge. This establishment should not be called Recessions, it should be called Withdrawals. They may have cheap drinks, but if that is your only standard for a bar, try hanging out under any bridge in the District. I assure you the ambiance with be superior. Treat yourself to some place classier, like Good Guys, or the dumpster behind a liquor store. Also, one of the bouncers had a broken nose and his arm in a sling, suggesting that violence which overwhelms the employees set to prevent it is a common occurrence. Seriously, if you enjoy places like this, seek out your local AA meeting place because you have a severe substance abuse problem. Whoever you are, whatever you have done or think you are capable of doing, you are better than this. Step into the light. God bless. read more

In my drunken tour of DC watering holes, Recessions fared better than most. I don't understand the hang up people have with the basement location. It's a bar people. They serve alcohol. Cheap alcohol. Who the hell cares where they're located? This is not the bar to go to if you want to be seen. Leave your Jimmy Choo's at home ladies. But some nights you really don't want to shave those little stems of yours, and trust me, no one at Recessions will be the wiser. Want to get trashed for less than $20, on the other hand, and this place may just be your next best friend. Two big screen TVs, a kitschy interior design (love the faux rock walls), $3 happy hour wells. My vodka tonic was well poured, and the bartender showed no contempt for my required two limes. Classy this place is not, but dive bar it is neither. It is the Madame Tussauds of bars... everything seems a bit strange, hardly dangerous, and you can't really tell who is real and who is just a wax figurine of an old dude in a suit, down on his luck, trying to feel cool hanging out in the proximity of the equally artificial looking interns. Throw back a few vodka tonics and you too might take on a slightly waxier sheen. read more

What a great dive. I hesitate to even say that for fear of attracting too much hipster attention to Recessions. Too many hipsters ruin any scene, but Recessions remains unsullied for the most part, being mostly hipster free or lite during happy hour. I've heard the scene is VERY different late night or weekends. I've grown used to the entrance...low key, weird stairway and conference room filled hallway, and then suddenly--BAM, you're in the middle of a great big bar....my first couple of times going down there I was weirded out by the conference rooms but now I don't really notice them so much. First. Let's start with the drinks. WOW. Strong. Strong, strong, strong. Totally awesome. Second. The food. Some typical bar fare, all pretty good. The fries and the wings are tasty. The wings have a little too much breading on them for me, but they are still good. The potato skins are pretty good (without the bacon) especially if you put a bunch of the wing sauce on them! YUM! The real kicker on the menu is the gyro. TOTALLY great, so delicious! Beef and Lamb mix gyro meat, hot and tasty oh so tasty. I am a fan. BIG fan. Third. Service. These guys are great. So low key and nice. They also let me bring in a bottle of Root Beer to mix with my rum instead of cola. I was super stoked! I like the strength of their drinks but it comes with a bit of an unconscious shudder and shiver after each sip and the root beer helps calm that all down. But the bartenders! I can't say enough about them, they really are nice and friendly and we even had one buy us a drink one time. Feels like a neighborhood place even though it is a downtown bar with a large and diverse crowd. Of COURSE I'll be back. DUH!!! read more

Ambiance is a little off but an overall quality place! Definitely hole in the wall-esque, awesome karaoke, nice servers/bartenders, and the employees definitely work to keep the place clean. The food sounded like it was all frozen and there wasn't a large variety but the drinks were strong and generally tasty. Definitely would come back just for karaoke. read more

When I think of Recessions, in my head I go "LOL." And I roll my eyes, even if no one is around to see me rolling my eyes. Recessions is the kind of bar that will leave you with a WTF kind of story to tell the next day. What a weird place. The King Kong beers (I believe that's what they're called, feel free to mock me if I'm wrong cause that's just a really silly thing to be wrong about) are, yes, totally cheap and worth every penny. Ladies, be careful here. Strange men will say strange things to you, you may get grabbed, as I did, on the back of the neck for being "so sexy" (me? really?), and a creepy guy may stand next to your table leering at all your friends and muttering under his breath for a half hour before you get a bouncer to remove him. Oh yeah, and the bouncer may have made a pass at one of your friends earlier in the night. Just...seriously, be careful. read more

As others have mentioned, there is an overpowering stench of natural gas in this place. It was so bad on a Saturday evening that I had to leave. The place is dark and gloomy, the bathrooms disgusting. It's dead on weekends evenings and the karaoke singers need help. read more

Now I love me a good dive bar, but in Recessions' case, I just don't get it. It's literally like hanging out in your buddy's basement when his mom isn't home and you've found a way to break into the liquor cabinet. And not in a good way. The place can get unbearably hot (because, hi, it's a basement and there's no ventilation) and it can also get very crowded. I've tried the food and it's not really that fabulous either. The bartenders are pretty good. Last time I was there, my bartender was slightly incompetent, but they all seem pretty nice. Lots of beers on tap which is great. For happy hour, it's usually not too crowded and you have room to breathe. They do have great happy hour deals which I can't really complain about. Overall, not my first choice for a DC dive, but I'll go if I get an invitation. read more

"$2 dollar shooters, ALL DAY LONG" "$2 dollar shooters, ALL DAY LONG" "$2 dollar shooters, ALL DAY LONG" If you've ever gone to a DC bar crawl hosted by Lindy Promo (which registers at Mackey's) you've heard the slob that recessions pays to advertise their shooter special belting this phrase out at the top of his lungs. I swear this guy is what the creators of the Simpsons based Barney Gumble on....big, fat, slobby dude with clothes that don't fit who probably takes his pay in the form of Budweiser. If you get sucked into the place, you'll move down a flight of stairs into a basement where you'll find a bar, some pool tables, and all of it is carpeted (carpeted bars creep me out for some reason - think how dirty they must be!) Sure they have drink specials and whatnot, but you're hanging out in a basement under fluorescent lights!!! Sorry, but I'll pay an extra 50 cents-$1/beer to go to a nice bar, above ground, and perhaps with a window or two. I just don't get the obsession with recessions, although considering the economy these days, I might want to start getting used to the place.... read more

I stayed at the Hotel RL for a week, I was looking for someplace cool to eat and grab a drink, the front desk said next door. Recessions is a nice size bar and dance floor. The drinks were stong and the food Hot and Good. I didnt know they also had Karaoke. Im no singer but with peer pressure from the DJ and a couple of Patron shots I did two songs. They have a huge variety of song selections and the DJ.......DJ Midnight was amazing...his vouce is beautiful he did Tennessee Whiskey and I got goose bumps. He also kept you moving. Check them out you wont be disappointed If you do duet grab DJ Midnight. read more

Really a 3.5 but I prefer to err on the side of awesome. First time I rolled through Recessions I thought it was crap. There was no one there but there were some big ass beers to be pounded. That was a Tuesday however so I figured it would pick up on some other night. I also started my "Journey for a Bar" due to that night so I have to thank Recessions for that much. The second time I went to Recessions however it proved to be much, much more fun. It was Friday evening and in stark contrast to Mackey's next door Recessions was a mad house. There was so much stuff going on, there didn't seem enough room for it all. The bar was packed, some people were trying to watch a hockey game, whilst 2 feet away other people were trying to play pool without hitting the people grinding on the dance floor to a damn decent karaoke rendition of Barry White's "Can't get enough of your love babe". Indeed I saw a fair share of rabble-rousing, one couple was even tied up in together in a over stretched tanktop. Top this all off with jumbo $5 dollar beers and I can say I had myself a good time. Definitely coming back to Recessions again I hope the crowd is ready to get Rickrolled. read more

This isn't a dive bar. It's a place where, ahem, "young professionals" go when they want to feel like they're at a dive bar. While it's hard to do the fratty clientele justice, perhaps a checklist of dive bar prerequisites may shed some light on why Recessions is a total disappointment. (For those interested in proper dive bars, fear not: Wonderland, the Raven and the Red Derby are just a short bus/metro ride away!) Slow, aloof service? Check. Your terrible bar food (see below) may take an hour and half to get to you. And when I say get to you, I mean that your friends take turns checking in at the bar to see if your orders are sitting there getting cold yet. It only took 5 trips for us to get 3 out of the 4 things that we ordered upon arriving. Bad fried food? Check. The potato skins have whole slices of bacon covered in very yellow cheese. The chicken strips are stringy, mostly breading, and served with a cream colored honey mustard that tastes better with the eyes closed. And the chicken wings -- well, the chicken wings might actually be palatable good if they weren't at room temperature once wrested from the bartenders stacks of old food. Good and spicy, if coagulated, sauce. Reliably cheap drinks? 'Fraid not. Only upon receiving, errr, retrieving the bill, did I realize that their drafts of Red Hook and Sierra Nevada are $8 each. Sure, they're bigger than pints. (They claim 29 ounces, we guesstimated 22.) And sure, the mass produced watery beers were much cheaper. That said, I have been to $8-beer establishments, and *you* Mssrs. Recessions, are not running an $8-beer establishment. Gritty, dark decor? Epic FAIL. Were I operating an overpriced, crappy-food, service-lacking Mecca for preppies who love fake stone walls and furnishings purchased at Costco in 1986, I might turn the lights down a bit. The garish florescent lighting revealed Recessions for what it is: a dirty, poorly laid out, unimaginative basement bar appropriately named for being the last stop before depression. read more

This is the standard I judge all dive bars in the world against. It's (unlike that dude in Beyonce's hit single) irreplaceable. I first came here during the summer of 2007. See, I'm a natural redhead. That means I burn VERY easily. When everyone else at my office wanted to head to Lucky Bar or Trio for a summer happy hour, I would exclaim, "But I don't have to wear sunscreen at Recessions!" I usually lost. But victory would be mine in winter when the cold and ice came. Objectively, this place may seem kind of meh. But, to me, this is the place with the cheapest happy hour specials and the best bartenders in the world. I sang karaoke here in front of complete strangers (which I rarely do). When I got dumped by a boyfriend in CA and took a red-eye back (on a Sunday... my 23-year-old self was an idiot) to DC and worked all day, I met my best friends in DC here at 5:30 p.m. for comfort and beer tears. I grew up in Recessions. Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it's sad. But, I love this place. It may look like a random basement hotel bar to the superficial observer. But it's the random basement hotel bar of my heart. read more

First off, many reviews have commented on how this is a dive bar. This is not a dive bar. This is a dirty run down hotel bar. I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing. I think the best way to review this is with a pro/con list. Pro: -Happy hour: Super cheap massive mugs of beer and shitty bar food. 4 mugs + 1 vodka cranberry + 6 appetizers = $46. That's a pretty sweet deal. -Karaoke on a Friday night. "God Bless America"/Queen medley = fantastic. Me singing "She Hates Me" = not so fantastic. -Great people watching. Very, very strange crowd. I especially enjoyed the old couple with the gnarly grinding. Con: -As mentioned before, the shitty bar food. It's edible but a whole lot of meh. -By the end of the night, the crowd had become pretty unfavorable. A lot like some very bizarre shitty frat party. Apparently I was there on one of their more normal nights, as evidenced by the fact that apparently my sister made an appearance there but left because the crowd wasn't weird enough. -The bus boy who tried to steal Julia's gum. I am kind of tempted to come back here on a Saturday night for goth night, just because I am pretty sure it will be hilariously amazing. read more

Oh, recessions....you are too cool! The first time, years ago, I walked into Recessions, I thought, "wow, we just walked into the dive bar that the cast of That 70s Show should go to!". That night, there was this local band playing and everyone...i mean everyone....was happy and friendly and you felt like you could make some friends! we ended up making friends with the bartenders, though :) Since then, Recessions has become a stopping point for us on Fridays after we've been post-work drinking for a while. The terrible kareoke is offset by two pool tables, large shots, and big-ass beer mugs. The people who frequent recessions are good people. Ate there for lunch once too...cheap, decent bar food... read more

2.25 Categorically one of the biggest jokes in the city, and honestly as I read somewhere that that this is "One of DC's staples" I literally saw Dr. Pepper shooting out of my nose. Hillarious. Recessions is a realm that skims upon the absurd, the banal, and the nonsensical. It masquerades as a "dive bar" much in evidence to the name that plays off of the 2008/2009 Global financial crisis yet is somehow located in a business district where workers enjoy some of the highest personal incomes per capita in the nation. Quite a copout of a juxtaposition - they could have just admitted that the Atlas District, Florida Ave, or NoMa was a little too seedy for a bar that literally wants to give you a bargain . The food - regurgitated orangutan vomit. Depressing gyros that look like tortillas stuffed with steak'ums and canned olives and I mean a place that calls itself recessions and serves lamb chops? Really? The interiors are unspeakably ghastly in so many ways that I really can't even describe it. I think this idea could have been really adorable if were in some little hipster neighborhood with arcade games, house-made tater-tots, cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon (that everyone seems to lose their shit over), and like sautéed chicken parts in some kind of nice dipping sauce. That could have definitely been more appropriate - and don't think this is a promotion of that other shitbox Maddy's just one door down. read more

I can hear you wondering: "How can you give this place four stars after you gave McFadden's [see my previous review] only one star?" The answer is simple. Recessions and McFadden's are both dive bars. Recessions does a very good job at being a dive bar, while McFadden's does not. "Okay," you say. "Then how can you give Recessions four stars while you gave The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton five stars?" Again, the answer is simple. I'm not comparing apples to apples here. The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton is, say, a Fuji apple that was picked at the height of its ripeness. Recessions is a lowly navel orange that fell off the tree--but damned if it ain't the best darned orange that ever fell off a tree. The best thing about Recessions is its long happy hour. It goes from 5 to 8 pm, Monday to Friday. This is especially useful for people who get off of work late. The second best thing is the prices. You can get a bottle of, say, Miller, for $2.00. Or, you can get a 28-ounce stein of beer for $3.00. If your lady is feeling fancy, you can buy her a rail drink for $3.00. If your friend has the munchies, you can buy him an appetizer for $3.00 as well. The third best thing is the games. If you have nothing to talk about with your friends except--say, law school--you can rent darts or billiards equipment. Or, you can play the erotic photo hunt: just be sure to avoid that one creepy guy who will whisper answers to you over your shoulder as you're playing. read more

This is one of the diveyest of all dive bars. It is a den of booze and sleeze and I love it. The absolute best time (and in my opinion, only) is Friday for happy hour. Go around 6 or 7pm with a group of friends and start drinking their $4.00 King Kongs (28oz of draft beer). Your cell phone won't work down there so make sure your friends are either with you or going to meet you there. At 9 or 930 karaoke starts and is not to be missed. Everyone sings and it is hilarious. Before you know it they will be calling last call(it closes at midnight), you will stumble up the stairs and back out into the real world and realize that it's 12 AM on a Friday night, you can't walk straight and that you had other plans but you can't remember where or with whom/or have the ability to operate a cellphone correctly. Attempting to go to another bar or party after this generally works out badly and sometimes you may wake up in your bed the next morning completely clothed not knowing how you left or with whom you left recessions. read more

I used to love Recessions, but the place has changed. It has turned into... a kickball bar. Now, a disclaimer before I get started-- I played kickball for a season, had some fun doing it, and then moved onto other things. To my team's credit though, the bar that our league used was McFadden's, which has a huge separate area to allow the kickballers to do their thing without overwhelming the rest of the bar. There's no such luck at Recessions though. If you head right over after work, everything is more or less the same as it was before-- the monster mugs of beer are cheap, the pool, darts, and photo hunt are still there, and you can actually have a conversation without shouting. Things start to change radically around 7:30, though. Within an hour, the level of inane conversation became deafening and the bar was choked with people, and the jukebox started to skew towards frathouse classics. Service got a lot shittier, and it took twice as long to get bar food. The pool tables became flipcup tables (does it ever get old for these people?) I actually started to consider submitting an application to join dieyuppiekickball.com. In short, kickball ruined the bar for the rest of the night. So, I guess Recessions is still good for a few beers after work. But when the colored t-shirts start showing up, get the hell out. read more

Ah, "Recessions." I see what you did there. Decent, warm basement bar. Rail drinks and drafts are $3 during happy hour, and I don't mean those tiny little drinks that look like a shooter glass instead of a cup. A big walloping goblet of liquor and mixer is what you get, good friend. Rejoice! A loooot of men. Looks like a lot of post grad and young professionals, although there's always that odd duck that asks you and your girl friends if you want to come to Morton's with him all expenses paid. True story. He ended up leaving with two ladies who I am sure they found drugged later. Were those steaks worth it, girls? You could have had the cute young law clerk who chatted me up who I ultimately had to turn down because I'm in a relationship, but instead, you split with Dumpy Rich-Pants McGee. ...I've had too much coffee. Um, back to the review. Minimum credit card charge of $10, so you know. read more

A divey karaoke bar in a posh af part of DC. I honestly don't know how Recessions exists, but I LOVE THAT IT DOES. Stop by on a weekday with all of your new karaoke content, buy a pitcher, and let errr rip. read more

Recessions is a happy hour institution in Washington's "Golden Triangle" downtown, plain and simple. King Kong (big, real BIG) beers and inexpensive appetizers are not the only things that make Recessions great -- it's the diverse clientele that I've come to love. I'm not specifically talking about the intense doorman, who wears hardcore black leather boots and looks like he could snap at any moment. No, I'm actually talking about the fact that part of the fun at Recessions is that you'll meet people you would have never met otherwise. Middle-aged office workers, blue-collar construction works, government employees and the occasional bachlorette party, from all races and creeds, all make for a very exciting time, particularly on Thursday and Friday nights, which seem to be the most popular. Oh, and do you like karaoke? Be honest with yourself ... deep down you probably do, at least every once in a while. Recessions has that too. Every Friday night. Humiliate yourself in front of a very supportive audience. A good time is had by all! One important note. As much as I love Recessions, I would advise against going on Saturday nights, as they have dedicated Saturdays to "Goth" themed patrons. I love you, Recessions, but there's something about overweight (or WAY to skinny) dudes in leather that disturbs me. Bottom line - Recessions is a GREAT place for a happy hour drink. Stop by and you'll see what all the buzz is about. read more

This flip cup fan loves Recessions on the weeknights when they have the flip cup tables set up! I used to go here after NAKID kickball games, and teams would play against each other as pitchers of beers disappeared faster than a Solo cup was flipped. The large round bar makes it accessible from every angle. The bathrooms are in an odd place; the line can stretch out and merge with the bar crowd, which makes things a little hectic. The DJ is great and large screen TV makes this place ideal for watching athletic events. I've only been here a few times, one of them being Halloween. There was actually dancing on this night, which I hadn't remembered about any of my other visits. I give it 4 stars because I've always had a fun time! read more

Recessions has become the sponsor bar for my volleyball/dodgeball league, so I know what it's like when we take over the bar, not on normal nights. It's a little dive-y for my tastes, but it'll do. It's not a fancy place, nor is it run down. It's not quiet, but it's not deafening either. Not big or small. Not bright or dim. Recessions is just different. Pretty low-key, just come-as-you-are sorta place where everyone can pretty much fit in. The have karaoke some nights. read more

I love Recessions. It is next to impossible for me to turn down any offer to come here, for any reason and at any time. I do love a good dive bar, but I don't even know that Recessions is that dive-y. Don't get me wrong, the first time you walk in here, you will think, man this place is gross. Why is there carpet on the walls? Why does it look like a weird hybrid of a 1970s basement and some kind of strip club? Trust me, four hours later you will be drunk, happy, and planning your next visit. As noted by the other reviewers, Recessions is CHEAP. I actually enjoy the taste of beer and they don't have anything really worth drinking, so I go for gin and tonics when I come here. Depending on the bartender these come in various strengths, but at $3 you can afford to have a bad one or two. The bar food is perfectly passable, although the bartenders have been known to randomly eat your food rather than actually bringing it to you. That's part of the charm! Typically I find myself here during the week, which is kind of ill-advised since it's very hard to leave sober. However I did recently start out here on a Friday night and found that they also offer karaoke. Seriously, can you go wrong? The answer is no, you can't, because they also have PhotoHunt. read more

Reviewers who've complained about the quality of the place here, in my opinion, A) don't belong in a dive bar, and B) can't appreciate something a little different. Dive bars are NOT trendy, and this place is about as timeless as it gets! Minus some of the electronic features like karaoke on Thurs & Fri evenings and the somewhat-broken photo hunt machine, this bar could be anywhere in time from Prohibition-era speakeasy to today. The King Kong beers are a great deal during the 5-8pm happy hours (and after--the $4 to $5 cost difference is pretty inconsequential for a liter of beer in DC) and the selection of fried foods are all delicious--I particularly recommend the chicken tenders or fried potato skins. This is the place to come if you want to meet up with friends for a raucous, uninhibitedly good time. read more

Went to Recessions (for a second time) to meet up with some friends for Happy Hour. I liked their happy hour specials, both menu and drinks. When our food arrived so did a roach. As we were sitting along the bar, it crawled along the baskets of food we had ordered. Luckily, it was promptly killed. I guess you expect these things at dive bars, but it doesn't make the experience any less disgusting. Roaches, mice, etc. are an instant stomach turner! The bartenders were not phased and did not apologize. I watched our bartender examine the squashed specimen before he tossed it in the trash. And that was it. read more

A Dive bar with a capital "D," one that I can only describe as really strange, but with super cheap drinks who am I to complain. To the left of Mackey's Public House you'll see a simple glass door with a red neon sign "Recessions" above it. Upon entering, you descend down a stairway to a long hallway with the funkiest carpet design I've ever seen. At the end of the hallway is the door to the basement bar. It looks like it was designed in the 1970s and left that way for the past forty years. There is one pool table and two dart boards, and an old karaoke machine set up next to a projector. Plenty of seating, as the bar was mostly empty when we showed up at 6PM. The place looks like its been in an eternal recession. If you can get over the weirdness of this bar, you will find some of the best happy hour deals in town. These include (5PM-8PM): $5 Appetizers- Onion Rings, Mini Crab Cakes, French Fries, Stuffed Potato Skins, Chicken Tenders, Mozzeralla Sticks, Buffalo Wings, Fried Calamari, Nacho Platter, and Chicken Quesadillas $2 Miller Light $3 Rail Drinks $3 Coronas $4 King Kong 28 oz drafts The King Kong drafts are particularly noteworthy as you get a lot of beer for a cheap, cheap price. The prices aren't a flat $4 - it's like $4-5 for Coors/Miller, then increases with the quality of the beer (the Yuengling was $7, the Sam Adams Oktoberfest was $10, etc.). The bartenders were also extremely pleasant and just seemed happy to have people ordering drinks. Overall, it looks like the bar that's in the basement of your local Elk's Club, but with the small crowds and the fantastic drink deals, you really can't go wrong. And yes, I kinda want to go again. read more

Came here as I was staying in the area and this was the most electrifying bar while still having a crowd serviceable enough for the staff. Karaoke is a regular occasion and the beers aren't as overpriced as other venues for food and drink. My bartender was Rose and she was excellent; attentive, engaging, and accurate. Mohammed, the captain of the whole ship, was out greeting customers and making sure everyone was pleased. He was willing to talk with patrons about more than surface-level topics and also shoots a hell of a game of pool too. 10/10 coming back here whenever I am in DC. read more

This is the perfect bar if you don't feel like going out to drink but don't want to drink at home. You know that feeling. It's difficult to find, I would recommend telling your cab driver to take you to Mackey's Public House, which is right next door, makes things less complicated. Overall it's a low key bar, it attracts an *interesting* crowd. The beers are big, you basically need to use two hands to hold the giant mug it comes in. **this bar does close early on the weekends read more

The bouncer seemed totally deranged and scary (definitely do not forget your ID, me and my friends learned the hard way) but you really can't beat happy hour here.... $3.00 Appetizers (French Fries, Potato Skins, Chicken Tenders, Mozzarella Sticks etc.) $2.00 Miller Light bottles, $3.00 Rail Drinks and "King Kong" 28oz drafts (wowie! can't beat that!!) Definitely not the fanciest bar by any stretch of the imagination but the bartenders are nice and the crowd is pretty cool. Recessions is also really big so you have plenty of room to spread out and get comfy while you drink. read more

Who doesn't love cheap beer and a hole in the wall bar? It's a great place to relax but Recessions just doesn't do it for me. It's an awkward space, the bartenders are random, bar food is the worst i have ever seen and it just isn't a good time. I've only been there once and I don't see myself going any time soon. Plain and simple there are many BETTER dive bars which offer a more pleasurable experience. read more

Got here after a 15 minute Uber ride and the doors were locked, called and the owner came up to open the doors for us. When we started walking down to the restaurant all we could smell was sewage and when he finally acknowledged us (as he ignored us at the door) he said "oh are you here for food? We don't have any food today" and didn't apologize or anything! Not coming back. Went to DC Pizza around the corner and that place is BOMB!! read more

I wish I could refer to Recessions as my "home away from home" because it would be a good one to have. But I don't go there enough to grant it that level of hype. Recessions is a dark basement bar with cheap beer and food that will have you feeling guilty the next day. Those who grew up in the 'burbs will know what I mean when I say it can only be described as a "rec room." It has pool tables that are ALWAYS occupied, and karaoke on Friday nights. I've noticed that a lot of people who come here for karaoke are dead serious about it, and I always feel ridiculous when I step up to the mic. I am a terrible singer, and an awkward dancer. These people have just poured their hearts out in some classic R&B number, sounding like professionals... and I come up and squawk through Damn Yankees. But whatever, in the end it's still just Recessions, not American Idol. I highly recommend this place if you are looking to "tie one on" while remaining mindful of your budget. read more

Dive bar, not a bad spot, but I will say avoid Wednesday nights there at all costs. The dj that was there was god awful, I mean terrible, and he pretty much took a large dump on the craft of djing itself. He was evening singing Montel Jordan's "This is how we do it" on the microphone and yelling "FRIDAY NIGHT" even though it was a wednesday. So not only did his tunes suck, but he didn't even know what day it was. I will say that I enjoy $10 Newcastle mugs that are huge and tasty, and that the manager was cool because he let me take over the remote and turn on the Caps game. I actually had to do some surfing to find it, but again, he was really cool and let me do my thing to find the channel so I could watch the Caps give another half hearted effort and lose. I'll probably go back for happy hours and stuff, as long as it's not on Wednesday nights, where they have the worst dj I've heard in DC. read more

First off, the entrance smells of a natural gas leak just as many others have said. The bouncer is this guy who doesn't even say anything, he just holds up his hand in the shape of an id. After going downstairs and passing by conference rooms for a hotel you finally arrive in the bar. It gives you that feeling that you going to see the mob the backroom of the basement feel. Now for the good. The drinks are sized very large and are cheap for the DC area. $4-5 for a large mug. Some of my friends ate the potato skins and fried chicken. They claimed the food was ok. The best part about this bar is the people you come with. read more

Ohhhhh Recessions. First introduced to me by the Lindy Promotions bar crawls, this place is one of the most cheap, no frills, good time establishments in the District. Caution: This is not the place to bring a date, your boss, your parents, or really anyone who you want to impress. Unless you are trying to establish your drinking bona fides. Rather it is a place that serves 26oz bud lights for $3 during happy hour, 5 - 8 p.m. Appetizers are half-price. There is also a juke box. Recessions is almost hidden from the public eye. To gain access you have to walk down two flights of stairs into the basement of a building. As one walks down a generic hotel looking hallway to approach the bar, they are left to wonder what kind of insanity is taking place on the other side of those nondescript double doors. As well they should. Often times there is insanity on the other side. People from a range of backgrounds get pretty drunk here. There are billiards as well as Karaoke. Go here with a friend who likes cheap drinks and wants to go somewhere new, and your stock will go up in their book. read more

There is literally no place like Recessions in D.C. In a good way. Mr. Kazi, Haji and Mo are some of the nicest guys i know. This place may not be swank and ritzy like many of the played out lounges in D.C. but unlike them, Recessions has stayed true to their customers by providing great drinks specials and a pretty good menu. While other bars come and go this place has been a steady landmark on L Street. On the menu, go for their crab cakes and pasta dishes, love their steak and cheese as well. Hard to believe you can find quality grub in a dive bar, but this places keeps you budget in check and offer great food. read more

Um what can I say: Absolutely amazing and probably one of my most favorite places in DC!!!! I have only been here on Saturdays for the goth night. I am not a goth even though I do like some of the music which gets better and better every time I go there. They play everything from an industrial remix of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" to classic Prodigy and 80s music like the Cult and Depeche Mode. Drinks are cheap and fantastic. The gothmopolitan is actually pretty damn good and the drinks are some of the better ones. Beer lovers will love this place. There is a $7 dollar cover but it is worth it. My friends and I go here and we play dress up and get our rave on with glo-sticks. The one bartender is really cute too! I love this place and my friends do too! The goth night does have cool events like a black out ball and they do have live music. Cool architecture too. :-) read more

Favorite bar in DC, which says as much about me as the bar. I used to use this place as a litmus test for how good of friends I could be with someone. If you aren't down with the ripped tablecloths, diverse crowd and cheap beer we might still get along in normal social situations but we're never going to be best friends. The burgers are spectacular. The bartenders are the nicest guys in the world. And the crowd is genuinely diverse, which is something that's pretty rare in DC. If you get sick of hanging out with the millionth hill staffer, come here. This place is actually authentic, not the fake authentic or ironic authentic that so many other places aspire to (I'm looking at you, Adams Morgan). Some people can't deal with that. The only downside to the cheap drinks is that you tend to get a few too many of the OMG $3 BEERS LETZ GET HAMMERED intern crowd. Some of whom are cute, but that's not quite enough to redeem them. read more